1996 Honda Civic Aftermarket Modifications

Civic UnrestC ertain vehicles dominate the aftermarket; fortunes have been built serving the needs and ambitions of enthusiasts who own Chevrolet/GMC C/K trucks, Ford Mustangs, Mazda Miatas, BMW 3-Series models, Volkswagen GTIs, and Chevy Camaros. Just as popular is the {{{Honda Civic}}}, which, especially in coupe form, is one of the most popular platforms for modification now clogging high-school parking lots up and down the West and East Coasts.

In anticipation of the introduction of a new Civic for '96, the aftermarket industry is gearing up to supply parts. For a glimpse into the future, MT artist Duane Kuchar whipped up this rendition of how the first lowered, megatired, bespoilered, and PIAA-lighted Civic may appear. DC Sports plans to have an exhaust system, a short-throw shifter, strut tower braces, an intake system, and a CARB-legal header available for the new Civic by the time you read this. Eibach should have lowering springs around the same time, and Koni will have shocks available by early summer. In addition, Wings West soon will have body parts available, and dozens of other companies have similar plans for the new Honda.

The FirstFront-Drive Five-Speed AutomaticAudi and Mitsubishi will, for the first time in automotive history, bring a five-speed automatic transmission to front-drive cars during the '96 model year. Audi's unit appears in the new A4 sedan, while Mitsubishi's will debut on the new Diamante.

Audi's five-speed system benefits from the A4's longitudinal mounting of its 2.8-liter V-6. Because the gears are encased behind the front-wheel centerline, space isn't at quite the premium it is in transverse applications (where a car's width constrains transmission size). The transmission's Dynamic Shift Program has over 200 shift schemes embedded in its memory, to be selected according to sensors monitoring the driving environment. Audi will offer its acclaimed all-wheel-drive system with this five-speed to produce the first Quattro automatic.

Mitsubishi's INVECS-II five-speed automatic mounts transversely in the Diamante and therefore must be compact. Using fuzzy logic and sensors that measure just about everything about the driving environment, including road gradient, the INVECS-II optimizes shifting patterns. An added bonus: The transmission includes a Sport mode, which, like Porsche's Tiptronic, allows the driver to manually select gears by toggling the shift lever.

Performance TrendsPerformance Test: Drag Turbo Prelude VtecCertain questions don't need to be answered, but are intriguing to contemplate: Could the '27 Yankees beat the '75 Reds? What if Genghis Khan had been born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 1952? How would a turbocharged Honda Prelude VTEC run?

We'll never know the answer to the first two queries, but we now know the answer to the third. Drag Competition Products in Monterey Park, California, specializes in turbocharger systems for Honda and Acura vehicles, and its latest kit was installed on a Prelude VTEC. According to owner Herman Chan, work furiously continues on emissions certification for Drag's turbo systems, but their use is currently limited to track-only competition. Because our test car showed up without even a catalytic converter, we can only speculate as to how anemissions-legal car would perform. But we have clues.

Hanging on a mild steel exhaust header, the Garrett turbocharger unit is a T4/T3 hybrid designed to exploit the 2.2-liter DOHC 16-valve VTEC engine's high-rpm power. The turbo heaves into a large intercooler in the car's nose and then across a long pipe back to the engine's stock throttle body. An HKS external wastegate set at 10 psi protects against overboost, while an additional in-line pump provides the necessary extra fuel. Throw in sundries like a K&N air filter, steel-braided oil and coolant lines, and a boost gauge, and that's the $4500 kit.